Local Inventor Sees UV-Based Face Mask As Part Of Solution

COOPERSTOWN’S GERRY WELCH

Given the shortage of disposal face masks, Cooperstown inventor Gerry Welch believes his “Aegis 12” UV-powered invention may be part of the solution. (Jim Kevlin/AllOTSEGO.com)

By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com

Click on the image to see full-size description of the “Aegis 12.)

COOPERSTOWN – Local inventor Gerry Welch believes he may have an answer to the face-mask shortage the nation is facing as it battles the Coronavirus threat.

For several years now, Welch has been promoting the “Aegis 12,” which the publicity describes as a “Healthcare Face Mask with Fail-Safe Power Pack.”

The device is two face masks with a silver foil layer in between, attached to a power pack that may be placed in a breast pocket or hung around the user’s neck.

The power pack, connected to the mask with a fiber-optic cable, provides “a high-intensity shortwave UV” that disinfects the air drawn into the center chamber through a louver in the front mask.

Welch, whose inventions include the Skeeter-Eater, a non-toxic means of reducing the mosquito population, said the Army has a 2010 patent on a similar device, but the energy source is in the mask itself, which soon heats up uncomfortably.

Regardless, the Army’s patent suggests the concept has merit.

He is seeking a patent with the assistance of Jay Yablon, the Schenectady lawyer who obtained the Skeeter-Eater patent, and meanwhile has contacted Corning, which manufacture fiber-optic cable, to gauge its interest.

Wow! This is great!
I hope this UV facemask device can be manufactured right here, close to home. And it needs a rechargable battery.
My ears don’t hold the elastic, but using large clips on my hat works better.
Also, that’s a very nice drawing.